


That's why I remember Christmas 2032

by FragileObject



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Family, Love, M/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-24
Updated: 2013-03-24
Packaged: 2017-12-06 09:21:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/734085
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FragileObject/pseuds/FragileObject
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gwyneth has a conversation with her father a few days before Christmas. But... Is he really her father?</p>
            </blockquote>





	That's why I remember Christmas 2032

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Por eso me acuerdo de la Navidad de 2032](https://archiveofourown.org/works/734053) by [FragileObject](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FragileObject/pseuds/FragileObject). 



> Sorry for my english. Sorry, sorry.

Megan shook her red curls while going out of the University building and submerging into the unusual warm pre-Christmas atmosphere of Cardiff. They had three free hours before the next class. Two days more and all of them would return to their homes. Beside her, her friend, tall, dark and with the largest and most beautiful in the galaxy ice blue eyes, stretched under the warm sun and adjusted her light denim jacket.

—This is delicious —she said, hanging the backpack in her shoulder and began to walk toward the cafeteria with her friend.

—I heard on the radio that this Christmas will be the hottest in the last twenty years. Can you believe it, Gwyneth? —Megan said—. My father told me that we will pass it on the beach. Christmas at the beach! Isn’t it fantastic?

—Yes it is —Gwyneth granted. Megan used to get lost in chatter and gossip but she was her best friend in college. Gwyneth Harkness-Jones was known for her beauty, her courage and privileged intelligence, but often his companions saw in her a girl quite rare. Those things made her laugh. If only they knew... She was only twenty, but she had seen things that others could not even imagine after a marathon of science fiction movies, beer and popcorn.

—Will you spend Christmas with your parents? —Megan asked.

—Yes, all together. Right here in Cardiff. Then we usually meet with the… other partners of my parents and their families and have a great time.

—Fantastic! —noted the redhead. It was his most used word.

—Yes — said Gwyneth with her radiant smile. Many had fallen before that smile made, but the girl remained surrounded by a halo of mystery that kept them away unless she let them approach. She was very difficult to conquer.

—What about your brother?

Gwyneth suppressed a giggle. His brother Kai was causing a sensation in his first year of college. He was tall, handsome and so smart that was synchronizing two careers. Besides, he was so serious that looked older and already had half Cardiff campus at his feet. A student of first year. And only in a few months.

—My brother, too. Family Christmas. My parents like to spend these days with us. The rest of the year they are very busy.  
Of course, she would not tell her friend that sometimes their holidays included visits to other planets when the Doctor joined family celebrations. Megan was good but very gossipy, and she didn’t have to know. Perhaps in time, but not yet. The Harkness-Jones children were clever and never talked about that kind of things. No one had to know that both of them were born in a spaceship, that the person who had carried them was one of the two men that they proudly presented as their parents, and that both parents were immortal. Nor that all of them, together with their “uncles” Owen, Tosh and Gwen and their families formed a secret organization called Torchwood.

—Don’t look, but there is a guy who’s not taking his eyes off of you —Megan muttered suddenly.

—What? —Gwyneth said, stopping, taken by surprise. She immediately went into “alert mode”. Her parents had taught her self-defense and fighting techniques that would pale Bruce Lee. Poor of those who try to approach her without permission!— Who? Where?

—There front —Megan said slyly pointing to a tall man who looked at them from the gardens where students were relaxing in the sun, hands in the pockets of his long military coat—. He’s hot.

Gwyneth suddenly relaxed and laughed. Of course he was hot. The most handsome guy in the known universe.

—Oh, Megan... He’s my father —she said waving her hand to the man. He waved back and started walking toward them—. He must be working here and has come to see me.

—Oh... OH! —the redhead said, almost speechless—. I... I’m sorry.

—It’s okay, Megan, is the reaction that dad often causes in people.

Megan smiled, blushing to the ears.

—And what did you tell me your parents were working at?

—Eh... Technology. Technology, you know. Can I have a few minutes and then I see you in the cafeteria?

Megan nodded.

—Of course, of course —she cleared his throat—. But come then because I have to tell you what Rachel has known about Alun Newell.

—Alun Newell? —Gwyneth said suddenly deconcentrated. Alun Newell was the cutest and most hallucinating boy of all Cardiff and Gwyneth wouldn’t mind the least to let him pass all her barriers. In fact, she had planned to proceed to attacking after the holidays if he made no approach. Her father had taught her infallible techniques... Although no one of her family needed them.

—See you then —Megan said rushing into the cafeteria with a group of people before the amazing father of her friend reach them and she died of shame.

—Gwyneth! —Captain Jack Harkness cried two seconds before wrapping his daughter in a hug as if he had not seen her in years.

  
Alun Newell and the rest of the world faded in Gwyneth’s mind. She melted into the embrace of his father. His amazing smell, the feel of old-style clothes, the strength and warmth of his body... Jack was the protector of the Earth, but, above all, he was the protector of his child, his children. Gwyneth felt adoration for her parents. Ianto was the perfect man, who did everything right, who knew everything and arranged everything. Jack was the hero, arrogant, sassy and overwhelming. Charming but also unwavering. Dangerous. Jack was capable of anything to protect his children and husband. Gwyneth was happy of simply being part of his family.

—Dad! Daddy, why are you in college? —she said smiling against Jack’s coat.

—A mission has brought me closer and I could not leave without trying to see you —Jack replied with emotion in his voice.

Gwyneth looked up and met his eyes. They were very similar. In the background of the pupils of the Captain there had an anxiety that was unknown the young woman and she felt something strange.

—But... is everything all right? Is Taddy okay? —she asked, infected by the unknown.

—He’s okay, honey.

Jack smiled but Gwyneth could feel something strange about his father. Not for nothing she was the daughter of an immortal man and also was born in the very TARDIS, the last Time Lord’s ship.

—Owen? Gwen? Tosh? The cousins?

—Everybody’s fine, Gwyneth —Jack repeated stroking the dark wavy hair of his daughter with a big and loving hand. His eyes looked hungry, as if they had not seen her in a long time—. No need to worry. I just wanted to see you.

Understanding found its way in the mind of the privileged young girl. She got goose bumps, but sighed and smiled at her father.

—Well.

—Well —he repeated, looking at her, entranced.

She waited a moment before speaking.

—It’s not you, right, Dad? —se said at last—. I mean... You’re not the Jack of all days, all my days... You’re from the future.

Jack raised his hand a few millimetres but then he tangled again his fingers in Gwyneth’s hair.

—I should have known you’d realize. You are clever as your father. As Ianto, I mean.

She put her hands on his chest, under his coat, touching the beautiful blue shirt. Her father had come to see her from afar and she was touched. No one fitted blue like him.

—You can fool others but not me. How long in the future?

A twinge of sadness crossed Jack’s light eyes and Gwyneth’s heart was compressed.

—Much. A lot.

She watched his face, raised her hand trembling slightly and stroked his cheek with the back of her fingers.

—Oh, god... But... you are as always —she said with a sweet smile and the start of some tears of emotion burning in her eyes—. Well... maybe not. I think... Maybe you have more gray hair. Perhaps this wrinkle when you smile... is more visible...

Jack laughed. It was the same dazzling smile of always.

—Young lady, don’t talk to me about wrinkles...

Gwyneth laughed too. Both shared similar levels of vanity.

—How many years have passed, Dad? A hundred thousand years...? Thousands of years? Do you come from thousands of years in the future... and you’re still worried about wrinkles?

Jack shook his head, flirtatious.

—Now more than ever, it’s not logical?

Father and daughter laughed again.

—Yes, the truth is that you’re right. I guess I will do the same —she took him by the arm and led him into the garden, among the students. The sun was wonderfully pleasant, it seemed spring—. Sit a while with me in the garden and let’s talk, Dad. Why are you here? Did something happen? Or something will happen?

Jack regretted causing the anxiety that he could recognize in his daughter’s voice and hastened to reassure her.

—Nothing you should know, nothing special, nothing bad. I just missed you and could not lose the opportunity.

—Can I believe you? Aren’t you fooling me?

—I never lied to you, Gwyneth.

She looked at her father at largely. That was true. Her parents had always told them the truth, had always treated them like adults or, at least, as equals. And Jack, even a little more than Ianto.

—All right. That’s true —said Gwyneth sitting on a bench and leaving her backpack aside. When Jack sat next to her, the girl laced her fingers with his. She had seen him the previous week, but... maybe he had not seen her nor touched her... for centuries or millennia.

—But... tell me... Has something happened to you? There must be a reason for this.

Jack smiled. Under the sunlight the tips of his dark and stiff hair acquired a clear tone, almost golden. He was so handsome, so bright, he almost looked like a mythological god.

—Many things, Gwyneth, a lot has happened... But all is fine. No need to worry. I just wanted to see you.

—And Taddy? — the girl asked squeezing the hand of his father with her fingers—. Tell me Taddy is with you.

Jack’s smile grew even wider and Gwyneth recognized the unabashed love that both felt for each other. She dreamed of finding that love one day, although she knew it would be difficult. What her parents had was so perfect and so rare that only fate could be responsible for creating it.

—We are together —Jack said, his voice in love.

Her skin became goose again. Thousands of years, perhaps, and the voice of her father, referring to his husband had not changed anything.

—You’ve been together all this time? Well, all your time...

Jack looked away, as if he saw all the years lived passing before him. He was the oldest man in the history of the universe and thinking about everything he had seen and felt produced vertigo. Sometimes, his eyes reflected the eons passed and sometimes shone like a kid who just discovered the world.

—Not all the days of our long lives, not always... A normal couple can spend sixty or seventy years together, hopefully... Ours is more complicated, much more. Civilizations and worlds are born and die, and are born again. Ianto and I have been through so much, have experienced so many horrible situations and extraordinary adventures that a normal mind would not be able to cope. Normally we face it all together but sometimes we need to separate to remember who we are or to find the peace that we sometimes lose. But somehow we just always return to each other. This is what has happened so far and is what will keep happening. I’m sure of that. I have no words to express my love for Ianto. We spent so much time together that my life and the entire universe would be meaningless without him. That’s all.

—Is he okay? —she asked, wiping a tear with a trembling fingertip before it could spoil the black paint in her eyes.

Jack looked at her. He seemed excited but calm.

—Perfectly. Genius and figure... and more handsome than ever.

Both laughed.

—Are you on Earth? Didn’t he come with you?

—He’s close... but I haven’t told him I was coming here. It’s difficult to say where he is exactly.

—I see... you’ve escaped for five minutes —Gwyneth said pretending to be reproachful.

—Don’t tell this to anyone. Neither me or Ianto. Nor Kai —Jack shook his head suddenly repented—. Oh, maybe I shouldn’t have done it because once your father realizes he’s going to scold me. But... I missed you.

The Captain slid his large thumb over the eyebrow of his daughter and then deposited the entire palm on her cheek. It was a gesture habitual with him. His hands were amazing, big, warm, and they conveyed massive amounts of love through touch. Everyone who knew him, in one way or another, knew it. Jack was not only special because he was immortal. Jack was unique since birth in a human colony very far from Earth, both in space and in time.

—You’ve been a long time without seeing me —Gwyneth said sadly.

—Yes.

She put her small hand on his and spent a few minutes in silence. It was a special moment for her father. Perhaps the memories he was creating at that moment would have to feed him for a few millennia. Him and Ianto. She closed her eyes, her face turned slightly and kissed the palm of Jack. If he needed to, she could stay there in that position for days. But after a moment, Jack sighed and withdrew his hand.

—I must go soon, Gwyneth.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. He had begun to rise but the girl stopped him.

—Dad... Can’t you tell me anything about my life, my future? Not about Kai? You really have not come to warn us of something bad?

Jack smiled and spoke with passion. The light in his eyes was beautiful. Pure happiness and pride.

—Not at all, no. I promise. I’ll just tell you the truth. Your lives will be fantastic. Long, full... full of adventures and wonderful people... You will do amazing things... Well, some things you will do Ianto could even rate them of... reckless and unconscious... In fact, that’s what he will say: reckless and unconscious. But you know that he always exaggerates... And you will be very happy. Believe me, Gwyneth. There will be bad times, of course. You will suffer, you will make mistakes... lose loved ones... But that is life. I assure you that the balance will be more than good. Never, no one has lived or will live on Earth what you will live. Although, now that I think...

—What? —she asked. She seemed to be in a trance listening to her father.

—Maybe I had to come to give you one last advice, one last push in order your lives to be what they are called to be... Never be afraid of anything. Never surrender. Yes —he said changing his tone to a more fiery one—, maybe I’m doing something I had to do, something that had to happen... I had to say that, so that you never surrender. I had to tell you that your parents are proud of you.

Gwyneth looked away, blushing, surpassed. She swallowed. Nothing in the universe could be more important for her than making proud those two extraordinary men. She had to control herself for being able to speak again.

—How much time do you have?

—I should go now —said Jack and he stood up, towering with his broad shoulders and his beautiful coat billowing slightly in the soft breeze, improper of an impending winter. He suddenly seemed so happy and satisfied that Gwyneth could feel the energy radiating from him.

—Kai is near here, Dad. Wouldn’t you like to see him?

—I would love to, but I must go. You know: consequences and paradoxes. Perhaps I have already screwed up enough.

The girl nodded and stood up too. She swallowed as she could the lump in her throat and tried to pretend that what was happening was the most normal thing in the world.

—Okay, okay... In two days, Kai and I will go home for Christmas. I'll make of it a Christmas unforgettable! And surely they will be, with this heat.

Jack, who had begun to walk, stood so dry that Gwyneth almost bumped into him.

—Wait, I remember that...

—What?

—Christmas Day, 2032.

—Really? Was it... Will it be a good Christmas? —Gwyneth said with a smile.

—Superb! The quietest I remember in Torchwood. You returned from college excited, eager to do things the four together. Ianto took us to that restaurant in the bay that you liked so much. And... I remember it snowed.

Gwyneth snorted in disbelief.

—Snowing? Impossible! On TV they have said there shall not be a drop of rain.

—I know, I remember. But you said it was going to snow and forced us to prepare. We thought you were crazy. But the weather changed suddenly and a tremendous snowing fell and we were the only ones ready in the restaurant... While everyone cursed the weather, we went to play in the streets of Cardiff!

Both are looked amazement and fascination. Jack started laughing and her daughter covered her mouth with her hand, victim of wonder.

—My God... —she managed to say. You think I knew it because... you told me that?

—I don’t know, honey. I really don’t know. Consequences and paradoxes. I think I won’t say anything more.

—All right, all right. God, I can’t believe what’s happening!

—I think I must go now —Jack said putting his hands on the arms of his girl.

—Aren’t you going to tell Taddy you came to see me?

—Of course I will tell him! —he exclaimed with his best cheeky smile—. He will be angry with me, I will take a dreadful quarrel and then he will ask me to explain and verse what you were wearing, how your make-up was, how you smelled and how the sun reflected in your hair.

—I love you —she said flatly, with a smile very like his father’s.

—And I, baby. I love you both. Tell Kai.

She nodded.

—Kai knows.

—Yes, I know —Jack said, stepping back. It was hard to get away from her, but he had to.

—Wait —said the girl, grabbing the Captain coat’s sleeve—. Will I see you again? I mean your future self.

Jack shrugged.

—Who knows? Maybe next time I’ll bring Ianto.

—That would be great.

—Take care.

—You too. I love you, Dad. Hug Taddy and kiss him and... well... you know what I mean... When I get home I will hug you and Taddy too. And I will tell you both... there is no other in the world like you. You are the best parents that Kai and I could have. And that you put on clothing for snow on Christmas Day!

They laughed again, accomplices.

—You know? —Jack said, frowning—. I remember another thing of this Christmas.

—Hey! Are you sure? It’s not a good idea to play with time...

—Alun Newell —Jack said.

Gwyneth froze. The smile faded from her beautiful face.

—Alun Newell, what?

—He’s an idiot.

—Al... Alun... what? What are you talking about?

Jack shrugged again.

—You repeated it several times throughout Christmas. Wow, I have a prodigious memory.

—But... but what do you know about Alun Newell?

—Nothing. I never got to meet him. I just know that you repeated it endlessly.

—Dad, what are you doing here? —said a deep voice behind Jack. The Captain turned and looked at his son in surprise and then with admiration while Gwyneth was still with a stunned face.

—Kai... —Jack said and hugged his son. He contained himself as much as he could. He didn’t remember he was so tall and he was almost identical to Ianto. Kai hugged him back tightly.

—Are you all right, Dad? Are we going to be invaded by aliens starting with the University of Cardiff?

—No, honey —Jack said stroking his youngest son’s cheek—. Everything is ok. Passing by and wanted to see you. I was just leaving.

—But wait, you were talking about Alun Newell, I’ve heard. That has gotten out soon!

—What are you talking about? —Gwyneth asked repressing a shudder.

—Don’t you know? It’s a scandal! He has been caught with Jayati Patel, the new professor in the department of History, in a situation somewhat... say, compromised. But it has also been rumored he had an affair with Jacky Williams, department of Language and with a couple more. And one of them with a very important position. Looks like his good qualifications should not be due just to “sink the elbows”.

—I see —Jack said, amused—. It seems it was another kind of “sinking”.

—That’s what it seems —Kai said with a smile like the one of his father.

—Alun Newell is an idiot... —Gwyneth said quietly.

—And a fake. And a cheater. I told you. He will be expelled from the University. And you said he was “cute”.

The Captain finally understood everything.

—He’s an idiot!

—You’re going to hear that much for this Christmas —Jack said to Kai quickly embracing his two children in the same gesture—. I can’t wait any longer. I’ve been happy to see you. Now I have to go.

—Are you sure everything is okay, Dad? —his son asked.

—Sure, Kai. I love you.

—Me too.

The two men stared at each other for a moment. Jack took a deep breath. Then he turned one last time to his daughter.

—Gwyneth, I have to go, my love. I’ll always love you.

—Me too. Never stop loving Taddy!

—See you in a few days —Jack lied.

—Sure.

—Goodbye, Dad —said Kai.

—Goodbye —Jack said to his children making the effort to get away from them. Merry Christmas!

—Bye! —the young girl said while watching her father going away briskly across the garden of the University.

They stood for a moment looking at him. Gwyneth sighed deeply. She was happy and tremendously sad at the same time. Kai put his arm around her shoulders. Then he spoke in his deep voice. It had the same cadence and the same accent that Ianto. A Welsh accent much more marked than Gwyneth’s.

—He was not Dad, right? He came from the future.

She didn’t even look at him. She was used to the genius of her brother.

—Yes.

—Much far?

She shook her head, nodding. Her dark hair shone in the sun.

—I think so.

—And Taddy? Are they still together?

—Yes —she said with remarkable happiness.

—Well —Kai said giving two pats on the shoulder of his sister and taking the bag he had left on the bench next to hers—. Then everything is ok, everything is in order. The universe is safe.

Kai started walking toward the cafeteria and she looked at him a moment before following. Her brother had an incredible ability to think through things, synthesize them and find the exact word or phrase to describe them. And, as always, he was right. If their parents were still together after so long and so many adventures, the stability of the entire Universe was assured, no matter what happened. She grabbed her backpack, smiled at the sun that would not stay to spend Christmas in Cardiff and followed her brother with a smile in her lips and in her heart.


End file.
